A video of an African-American female student remaining seated during the national anthem at her college graduation has sparked controversy online. With over 600,000 views, the video has generated a lot of debate.
The video shows the woman seated at the graduation ceremony as the national anthem is played. Others around her are standing. The description in her video said, “I will never stand for this.”
@IAnonPatriot, known for promoting conservative information, posted the video to X. She captioned the post, “Liberal woman refuses to stand for the national anthem before graduation… Thoughts??”
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Netizens were quick to react.
One commented, “Should be on the next boat out.” Another expressed, “They love to take advantage of all that America provides them, but can’t show one ounce of respect.”
Others said she was just exercising her rights. A commenter wrote, “It’s her right as an American, just like it’s my right to sing classic American songs.”
Someone else expressed, “In a world of $36 trillion debts, corruption, forever wars…yeah, a woman not wanting to stand for a virtue signaling ritual just doesn’t place that high on my list of things to be outraged about.”
The person added, “But hey, if it hurts your feelings that she won’t pledge to support the government that steals your money every week, to send to Israel, Ukraine…China, all while people have to put up with fentanyl zombies taking over the streets, then maybe we could shame her into standing, and it will make it all better.”
Still, some others also chose to look beyond the controversy, as one commenter wrote, “Can we focus on the graduation achievement instead of the controversy? Congratulations to the grad! #PositivityMatters”
But the issues surrounding protests of the national anthem are nothing new. According to the New York Times, Black athletes championed these protests.
The publication noted that two African-American track athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood on the podium for the national anthem after their gold and bronze medal wins at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. They then raised their black-gloved fists to the sky in what was commonly perceived as a “Black Power” salute. They were sent home and suspended by the U.S. Olympic Committee after pressure from the International Olympic Committee.
Similarly, four years after the 1968 controversy, track athletes Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett, who were also both Black, took the podium in Munich, at a time when officials feared a repeat of the Mexico City gesture. This time, however, the pair “did not face the flag” when the anthem was played, according to the Times’ 2010 obituary for Collett.
Again in March 1996, the National Basketball Association suspended Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of the Denver Nuggets for his refusal to stand during the national anthem. At the time, Abdul-Rauf, who converted to Islam in 1991, explained that he did not believe in standing for any nationalistic ideology.
Most recently, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick made news in 2016 when he protested racial inequality and police brutality by kneeling through the playing of the national anthem. He received harsh criticism and was never signed again after becoming a free agent.
While the decision to refuse to stand for the national anthem has always been met with criticism, the question remains whether it is a matter of civic duty or individual choice.
